The Adventures of The Marauders
by Aksmurderer
Summary: The Marauders - Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs - had many adventures together. This is a collection of stories telling the tales of different journey they embarked along their ways in life.
1. The Shrieking Shack

**_*DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING OF OR BELONGING TO HARRY POTTER AND ITS UNIVERSE.*_**

 **Chapter 1: The Shrieking Shack**

"Prongs! Prongs, wake up! Oh for Merlin's sake..." Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin were all crowded around James Potter's bed. Each had a special nickname symbolising them in unique ways: Sirius - Padfoot, Peter - Wormtail, Remus - Moony, and James - Prongs. It was very late at night, probably one or two in the morning, and the three fourth year Gryffindors had jumped out of bed to do some mindless exploring, only to find that their oh-so-mighty, confident and charming leader, and of course, friend, was dreamily snoring away to glory in his bed, oblivious of his gang.

"Prongs!" Peter shook James' arm, in attempt to wake him up, though this resulted in nothing more than a slight stir. Holding his wand, which was currently illuminating the room, Peter turned desperately to Sirius and Remus.

"What now? He's won't budge!" Sirius merely smirked.

"This ought to do it." Sirius rummaged inside his small leather sack he was carrying, and pulled out a bottle containing some kind of liquid. Then, he opened the lid and poured the contents on James' snoozing expression. There was a pause, a moment before -

"Aah! Ugh, what the... Ugh!" James furiously blinked his eyes, wiping his face with his sleeve, while simultaneously hacking and coughing. Satisfied, Sirius put his curious flask back in his sack.

"Wake up sleepy head, we're going exploring." Remus smiled at James' frustrated face, he being the kindest of all. James frowned at the lot, putting his round black glasses on.

"You... Padfoot... What was it you threw on my face? You're all a bunch of foul gits, you know that right?" James grumbled, whilst Sirius just snickered.

"You left us no choice," he replied. James still looked angry, however.

"Why couldn't you just call my name?" Prongs questioned. Peter looked up at that comment.

"I did. But you wouldn't move a muscle!" Remus watched them all bickering, then glanced at his watch.

"Listen. If you all want to chat, great," he said, in a hushed tone. The other three stopped to look at their dear friend Moony. "But if you want to go exploring, I suggest we leave right now. James' already wasted twenty minutes."

"Where are we?" Peter asked, his wand in one hand. The quartet had silently left the Gryffindor dormitories after Remus' much appreciated rational speech. They were now outside, facing away from Hogwarts and looking beyond, ahead toward the endless forests and trees and hills ahead.

"Don't ask me," Remus replied, standing next to Peter. It was a chilly night, and every breath of theirs made a whisp of smoke. Sirius and James looked at the other two as if they were mad.

"You're not meant to know where you're going if you're truly exploring!" James said, exasperated. "Come on then!"

They all walked down, towards the Forbidden Forest. They were still a fair bit away, when they heard a loud thump. Sirius was the first one to see it, of course.

"Bloody hell..." Sirius said, astounded by what stood before him. "What is... that?" The others turned around, and met the same awe, though Remus seemed pretty sure of himself.

"Its the Whomping Willow. Known for, you know, whomping things. And people. Quite dangerous, if you ask me." They all stared at the tree for a couple more seconds, before James piped up again.

"Lets take a closer look," he said, running closer to the plant, bursting with enthusiasm. Sirius and Peter followed, though Remus stayed put.

"I wouldn't do that," he called out, alarmed. "The Whomping Willow has a tendency to- " Remus got cut off because right then, one of the big, bulky branches of the willow thundered down of Peter. And then on Sirius. And then on James. And then on Sirius again. And then on Peter. The three ran around wildly, trying and failing to dodge the roots and branches of the violent willow, while Remus stood back, amused.

"Moony!" Sirius screamed. "Help - ow! - us!" He had his arms in the air and was runnng around like a mad man. Of course Remus had no intention to save his proud friends, it was much to fun watching them flail ever-so-gracefully. But then again, that wasn't who Moony was.

After a lot of struggling and jumping and slashing, Remus managed to untangle the rest from the Whomping Willow.

"Oh Merlin," Sirius began, pawing at his graze on his cheek. "That's some tree..." They all nodded in agreement, still in shock of what they just experienced. Suddenly, James turned to them all, sharply. They returned his intense gaze, but with a lot more confusion.

"What?" Peter said, on behalf of Moony and Padfoot. He too had a gash on his knee, but he did not even look at it.

"I saw a hole. A passage of some sort." James said, still very intent. "Right there," he continued, pointing towards the bottom of the willow. "There, underneath the branches. I wonder where that goes..."

"Are you barking mad?" Sirius said, now his voice uneven. "That stupid tree nearly killed us. And now you want to go exploring it?" James grinned at Sirius.

"Yeah. Pretty much." Sirius' face melted into a grin itself.

"Very well. I suppose we all are barking mad... me especially..." At this, they all laughed.

"Alright, on the count of three, run to that hole over there," James said, motioning towards the gap at the trunk. "One..." They all stood up. "Two..." They got into their running positions. "Three!" The quartet ran as fast as they possibly could, and didn't stop until they had successfully fallen down that curious rabbit hole.

"Look! A passage!" Peter got up from his spot and began trudging towards the dark underground passage ahead of them. They had just slid down that hole at the base of the Whomping Willow, and found themselves in a rather odd looking clearing. It seemed as if they were, in fact, underground. The gang walked cautiously down the passage, flinching at every noise, and always having their wands at the ready.

The passage seemed to be going forever and ever and ever, until it came to an abrupt stop. There, before them, was a musty looking room. Everything was covered in at least an inch of dust, and the whole place looked pretty disorderly. There was a staircase that lead up to a second level. But the planks of wood holding it looked brittle and old. The group lowered there wands and explored the place with their eyes.

"Its... a house," Remus said, looking up and around in astonishment. "A house..."

"Oh, this is great!" Sirius said, a bit too enthusiastically. The others looked at him quizzically. "Remus, when's your next... When's do you next... When does..." Remus didn't need to comprehend what Padfoot's uncompleted sentences meant; he knew.

"Tomorrow," he said, quietly. "I guess it could work..." James was losing it.

"What are you two on about? Padfoot? Moony?" James just wasn't catching on. Peter, however, finally understood. He met Remus' eyes, and got a silent approval before he continued.

"Tomorrow is when Moony becomes, well... When Moony is affected by the moon," Peter said. "Tomorrow Moony become a werewolf. His true form. We tried to hide him every month, but now we have found this perfect hideout. Where we can really let Moony be himself." Peter admired the strange, shabby architecture around him.

"So your saying that we use this to hide Moony every month, until he changes back?" James asked, his gaze shifting from Sirius, to Remus, to Peter.

"Well, yes," Remus replied for Peter. "It would be we helpful. I wouldn't want anyone getting hurt because of... my monster."

"Well Prongs, almighty Prongs," Sirius said. "What do you say?" They all turned to James, each upholding a different expression. A small beam crept up James' face.

"I say, we have ourself a hideout shack!"


	2. My Valentine

**_*DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING OF JK ROWLING'S WONDERFUL HARRY POTTER UNIVERSE.*_**

 **Chapter 2: My Valentine**

"Attention students!" Every face of every age turned to face the headmaster. They were all gathered in the Great Hall for some sort of meeting.

"Thank you. Now as you may already know, this year we are holding a very special celebration in this very hall," Albus Dumbledore said. Murmers and whispers rippled across the hall, on every table.

"Silence!" Once again, the room was hushed. "Okay, well I take you do not already know. This year we are celebrating a very special day, a day filled with love and happiness. Valentine's day. We celebrate this day every year, of course, but this year, the professors and I have decided to hold party, and special celebration only, and only, for this reason. It will be held on February the fourteenth, and if my calculations are not incorrect, that is in fact next week. Yes, sorry for the short notice, because every student will be required to arrive with another, of the opposite gender. This is because there will also we a ball. A dance, called the Heart's Ball. Just something to think about. Now, off you go!" Dumbledore got up from his large throne, just as the crowd erupted with no longer quiet chatter. Suddenly Dumblefore remembered something else.

"Oh, and if you must know, the boys will be asking the girls, not the other way around. Thank you." Dumbledore called out to the vast, chatty student body. He exited the Great Hall, under the assumption that his students were going off to their respective classes. Little did he know that in fact that was the last thing on their minds...

"Prongs seems awfully confident, doesn't he?" Remus Lupin said, nudging Sirius Black in the arm. Those two, along with James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, were heading off to their first class, which happened to be potions with Professor Slughorn and the Slytherins.

"Well I suspect he just thinks that Lily Evans would be overjoyed to know that he wants to take her to the Heart's Ball," Sirius replied, smirking. James looked at Sirius and Remus, giving them both a withering look.

"I know she will," he muttered. "This time..."

The four entered the classroom along with the other Gryffindors and Slytherins. Professor Slughorn was perched over three different steaming cauldrons, each bubbling with a different substance. James looked around, trying to find someone in particular, just as Slughorn began speaking.

"Good morning class," he began. "Today I will be asking you to brew a very dangerous and specific potion. However before we begin, would anyone like to have a go at naming these three potions _I_ have brewed for you lot?" Behind James, a small boy's hand shot up, though hesitantly.

"Ah... yes, Longbottom, is it? Frank Longbottom? Yes, what are these three?" Slughorn asked, as Frank made his way to the front, where the potions were placed.

"Uh, this first one here is Veritaserum. It is a truth telling potion." Frank motioned towards the first cauldron.

"This next one is an Amorentia potion, meaning love potion. It smells differently to each individual, according to what attracts them," he continued, motioning towards a pearly substance in the next cauldron, which was currently giving off fumes. Frank suddenly began walking closer, and closer, and closer to the cauldron, as if in a trance, when Slughorn abruptly slammed the lid on. Frank broke from his trance, confused, then continued on.

"And this last one here," he said, pointing to the smallest cauldron, "is called Felix Felicis. It is also known as Liquid Luck. One sip of this liquid, and one shall find that all his endeavors succeed."

"Thank you, Mr. Longbottom, I can take it from here," Slughorn called, motioning him back to the crowd. Frank sheepishly walked back.

"Now, students, I ask you to do this in the remaining part of this lesson: I want you to create a Draught of Living death, for which recipes can be found on page... on page..." Slughorn trailed off, trying to remember what he was going to say. Lily Evans, however, was skimming through her Advanced Potions book.

"Page ten, professor," she replied sweetly. Slughorn greeted her gratefully.

"Thank you Miss Evans. Yes, recipes for the Draught of Living Death can be found on page ten, and if one was to successfully brew the potion, he will recieve one small vial of Liquid Luck. Now, off you go! You don't have much time," he said, and then walked off to his desk, while the children scattered off to their respective spots.

This should be easy, James thought. He, after all, was the a master at potions. Along with Severus, of course. Severus Snape seemed to have a knack at this subject too. He just hoped that he would finish brewing it before Snape did. Because deep inside, he knew that winning over Lily wouldn't be easy. Snape, unfortunately, seemed to be very close to Lily. But only friends, right? Only friends... Whatever the case was, James needed that vial desperately.

James continued to rapidly attempt to complete the recipe, though this one, to his inconvenience, seemed quite difficult. To make matters worse, Snape seemed to be cruising through the recipe with ease. After a couple of stressful minutes, Snape's hand shot up in the air. Slughorn saw this and made his way towards Snape, plucking a leaf from a nearby plant on the way. James, still trying to concentrate, couldn't help but overhear Snape and Slughorn's conversation.

"... Ah, this looks about right," he said in a hushed tone in Snape's ear. James watched as Slughorn gently dropped the leaf into the brew.

"Dear boy! This is perfect!" Slughorn exclaimed, his eyes as wide as cauldrons. "So perfect, I dare say one drop would kill us all," he added with a chuckle. Slughorn was no longer quiet. He was, in fact, the exact opposite of that. The whole class turned to see Snape and his draught. Young Snape was grinning shyly, not used to all the attention. Lily, however, who was perched beside Snape, was happily cheering for Snape. Seeing this, James face grew hot.

"Mr. Snape, I award you with your very own vial of Liquid Luck! Congratulations!" Slughorn seemed extremely happy, though James did not why. Lucky for him, Slughorn explained it all. "You see, dear boy, you are the very first person to complete the recipe! No one has ever done it before! At least no one your age..." And with that, Slughorn patted Snape on the back and walked away, dismissing us all. While James was packing up, he took a quick sneak peek at Snape's book. It seemed to have way too many annotations on it, done by Snape himself. Nevertheless, ignoring this, James continued to pack up. The other students seemed to be crowding around Snape and congratulating him, whilst James was quietly doing his business. Lily's eyes skimmed across, and she gave a very annoyed look to James when she saw that he was applauding Snape for his magnificent work. Because of this, for Lily, ONLY for Lily, he began clapping rapidly and with much too enthusiasm, that some others eyed him suspiciously. James was angry. Real angry.

"Oh ho ho, Prongs!" Sirius laughed, shoving James is a friendly way. "Snape's done it! He's got the luck potion, though he probably won't need it. Lily seemed VERY happy with her best friend, didn't she," he said, still guffawing. James face grew very red.

"I don't need luck. This time I will ask her to the dance, and she will say yes, and that's that," James murmered back, steam coming out of his ears. Oh, how he hated that Severus Snape.

Later on that day, at just before dinner, James decided to go ask Lily. It's now or never, he thought, mustering up all his courage. He spotted her all alone in the corridor, carrying what looked like twenty books. Perfect, James thought. He strode up to her and stood there for a second.

"Would you like some help?" James asked, ever so politely. Lily looked up while struggling, her expression hard to make out.

"No," she said dryly. Though it was clear she did. Her books were on the verge of tumbling out of her hands. James noticed this and grabbed some of the books without asking, carrying them for her.

"Thank you," she said, but with much less gratitude than he had hoped for. The pair walked up to the common room in utter silence, both carrying piles of books. Once they reached the common room, James helped Lily pack away the books. Lily didn't say a word against it. Or for it, for that matter. It was all very quiet, until James decided to take his first step.

"Lily," he began. Lily looked up at him, confused. James always found her very attractive. She had flowing auburn hair that went to her waist, though she usually tied it up. Her eyes were bright green, and she had a couple of freckles on her rosy cheeks.

"Uh, er, um... huh, I was just, er..." he stuttered, all too aware of Lily's attention.

"James Potter, are you going to say something? Otherwise, I think I am going to go," she demanded. "I am rather hungry." Lily began to walk towards the door, when James stopped her.

"Er, yes, I am going to say something, actually. Um, Lily, would you... Would you like to go to the dance with me?" James was so nervous, he was fiddling with his robes, unable to look her in the eye. Lily, though, was staring at him blankly.

"Dance?" Lily asked. James looked up, astonished. Maybe, just maybe, Snape hadn't mentioned it. Or maybe she had rejected him. Maybe.

"The... The Heart's Ball?" James said, still equally confused.

"Yes, what about it? I don't have time for this. Be straight forward, Potter." Lily answered, her expression becoming more and more annoyed. He noticed this, and began fumbling again.

"Er, yes, well, I was, I... I was just, er..." He caught himself, and then looked up at Lily's face, now scrunched up with annoyance.

"Will you be my Valentine at the Heart's Ball?" James asked, with a clear and concise voice. Lily's expression suddenly softened.

"Oh! Er, James, I'm so sorry, but someone else already asked me. And I said yes..." Lily was not surprised that James asked her. This wasn't the first time, of course. But it still shocked her that he was so persistent. Sometimes she even felt it was sweet.

"Oh, yes, of course. Never mind. Thank you. Er..." James face became red again, and he began to feel very hot. Then one thing caught his mind. He looked up, trying to hide his humiliated face.

"Er, if you don't mind me asking, was it Severus who asked you?" Lily looked at him, alarmed.

"Why, yes, yes it was. Look, I'm sorry James. I'm sure you'll find some other pretty girl to ask. Good bye James," she said. Then she walked around him, and left the common room. James was left standing, confused, humiliated, embarrassed, and that is putting it mildly.

"Good bye Lily," he said, even though she was long gone. He turned around, still in shock, and walked out, towards the Great Hall. He tried to ignore what had just happened, and hoped for a nice meal, with his nice friends.

"So how was it, Prongs?" Peter asked, curious. He was sitting next to James, and then it was Remus. Sirius was on the other side of James. All were all ears for what James had to say.

"Uh... it was... er..." he began. But the other three were experienced by now. They knew exactly what had happened. Because it was kinf of the default situation. Never, NEVER, had Lily said yes to James before Snape.

"Don't worry, I bet that wretched Snape used his Liquid Luck to get her," Sirius said, patting his friend on the back. Remus, hearing this, turned around to look at the Slytherin table. And sure enough, Snape was wiggling a perfectly full vial of Felix Felicis in his hand, smiling warmly back.

"Er, I don't think so..." Remus said. James looked even more miserable.

"What does he have that I don't?" James asked himself. He picked at his roast chicken with his fork, suddenly losing his appetite. This had happened several times, but today, he felt extra humiliated.

"We'll find someone else, all of us," Peter smiled.

"Yeah, and we'll teach that Snape a lesson, won't we?" Sirius added.

"Don't worry, she'll come 'round," Remus said. James smiled gratefully at his friends. The others called the quartet the Marauders. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. Best buddies for life, together through thick and thin. And problems like this.


End file.
